72. You Made Me Like This
72. You Made Me Like This
72. You Made Me Like This
I asked, careful not to let my alarm show.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm asking, literally, if you're two-timing."
Jin Ye-sol.
A genius with a 150 IQ.
Had she really pieced together my relationship with Yu Ha-yeon, Ban Ha-na, and Lee Seol-ha in that short a time?
No, that couldn't be it.
I wasn't absolutely certain, but my guess was that Jin Ye-sol was just fishing.
I put the question to the student council president and club leader.
"Could it be that you heard some rumor and got the wrong idea about me?"
"..."
Jin Ye-sol's lips quirked upward without a word.
A hint of disappointment flickered across her face.
'Ah. So you didn't actually know.'
She must have only heard the gossip and decided to prod me a little.
The rumors had spread through the academy pretty thoroughly, so they'd apparently reached the student council president's ears.
"I'm not that kind of person, President. Those are all just malicious rumors the students cooked up."
"Wh-what are you doing...!"
As I spoke, I raised Yu Ha-yeon's hand, which I'd taken hold of.
"I have Yu Ha-yeon as my childhood friend. Why would I ever two-time? I'm not like that."
"Drop dead... Han Si-jun, drop dead..."
Yu Ha-yeon kept her head bowed low, raining curses down on me.
She was mortified, but she clearly also wanted to kill me for lying, because she was squeezing my hand hard enough to hurt.
'...That stings.'
Whether Jin Ye-sol had bought my display of innocence or not, she shot Lee Seol-ha a sidelong glance, then nodded with a smile.
"So that's how it is between you two. Got it! Looks like I just heard some gossip and jumped to conclusions. Sorry!"
"But, the casual speech..."
"We're clubmates from now on, so I'll speak casually. That fine?"
"...Yes."
Jin Ye-sol, switching to casual speech and then asking for permission after the fact.
Her self-absorbed attitude was irritating, but I let it slide.
'It's Jin Ye-sol, after all...'
Anyway, it looked like I'd managed to join the club, probably because Jin Ye-sol had taken a liking to me.
She stepped over and stood in front of Yu Ha-yeon, meeting her eyes.
"We know each other already, don't we?"
"...I suppose so."
"Would you mind if I asked what made you change your mind?"
"Th-that's..."
Yu Ha-yeon fumbled, reluctant to answer.
But then she made eye contact with Lee Seol-ha behind Jin Ye-sol and answered with sudden confidence.
"I... I followed Han Si-jun here...!!"
"...I see."
Jin Ye-sol glanced at me once and made an unimpressed face.
She'd probably guessed that answer already and found it boring.
Even so, the reply seemed to satisfy the president, because she told Yu Ha-yeon, "Welcome to the club."
"...Tch. So annoying."
From a distance, Lee Seol-ha directed a sharp glare at Yu Ha-yeon as she watched.
"Hehe... we're in the same club four years in a row, Han Si-jun?"
"Guess so."
Yu Ha-yeon's response to Lee Seol-ha was to ignore her completely.
And next.
Ban Ha-na's turn.
Jin Ye-sol's blue gaze and Ban Ha-na's pink gaze crossed.
"..."
"..."
They just stared at each other without a word.
What kind of conversation were they even having with their eyes?
In the silence that hung over them, Ban Ha-na was the one to speak first.
"Si-jun...! She won't say anything...!"
Apparently, Ban Ha-na had played along with Jin Ye-sol's stubbornness.
Jin Ye-sol called out as if nothing had happened.
"I win, then? So, as for the penalty..."
Flick!
"Ow...!"
Ban Ha-na let out a pained yelp.
Jin Ye-sol drew a V with her fingers and grinned.
"You pass. I liked your pained voice."
"Han Si-jun... I think we might have joined the wrong club."
"You're telling me. If I'd known it was going to be like this, I would've gone to a different one."
In V. AGE's text, I had no idea she was this much of a lunatic.
Seeing the Hero Academy's student council president Jin Ye-sol in person,
she looked seriously unhinged to me.
The moment came when some hopefuls were accepted and others were eliminated.
Silently, I made up my mind.
'...I'll just grab the Hidden Piece and bolt.'
This club president was clearly not in her right mind.
***
The Villain Research Club.
There were five new members, including me, Yu Ha-yeon, and Ban Ha-na.
The club roster now stood at nineteen members total.
Compared to the other students, my stats were low and my combat grades poor, but I seemed to have been accepted based on my record of clearing an A-rank Gate.
On the way back to the dorms after submitting our club applications,
Yu Ha-yeon asked, clearly worried.
"Are you sure that club is okay?"
"I'm pretty sure it should be fine."
"If it's fine, just say it's fine! What do you mean, 'pretty sure'...!!"
Yu Ha-yeon shouted loudly enough to peel my ears off.
Both Ban Ha-na and I covered our ears at the sheer volume of her voice.
Her tone might be crystal clear, but her lung capacity was as ridiculous as it had always been.
Just an ordinary walk home on an ordinary day.
"Han Si-jun."
Someone called out to me from behind, voice composed.
"Lee Seol-ha?"
What was she doing here?
Before my uncertainty could stretch out, she spoke up.
"...Take this."
Lee Seol-ha held out her hand as she said it.
Her fist was closed, so I couldn't see what was inside,
but it had to be something small.
"But, are you okay with this?"
"It's fine. No problem at all..."
Lee Seol-ha's hand was trembling.
She had her eyes screwed shut.
Because of her misandry, even the idea of touching me seemed hard on her.
'Well, maybe this is a kind of training for her, too.'
I reached out my own hand to see what she was holding.
But the object in Lee Seol-ha's hand never had a chance to drop into mine.
"Just what is it that you're making such a big deal out of this."
"Hey, you can't just take that."
"Thieving bitch..."
Yu Ha-yeon snatched the object right out of Lee Seol-ha's hand.
She wasn't about to tolerate any contact between Lee Seol-ha and me at all.
"What in the world is this thing..."
She froze.
Yu Ha-yeon stopped dead the moment she looked at what she'd swiped.
What kind of object could make her react like that?
Curious, I peered at her hand.
"What the— a button?"
In Yu Ha-yeon's hand was a small button.
Going by the size, it looked like it had come off a school uniform.
"Anyway, I gave it to you, so I'm leaving."
"Oh— uh, yeah. See you."
Lee Seol-ha left after handing over nothing but a button.
I didn't know why, but her steps as she walked away were light, almost buoyant.
"...What is this?"
Yu Ha-yeon tilted her head, studying the button in her hand.
What was the deal with this button?
And why had she given it to me in the first place?
I didn't understand, but an unsettling feeling was creeping in when—
Ban Ha-na spoke up as if a thought had just sparked.
"Si-jun! Look at this! Ha-na's missing!"
"You're missing?"
"Not that 'Ha-na'! A button— one button is missing!"
I honestly thought she meant she, Ban Ha-na, was missing.
The spot Ban Ha-na pointed at was my shirt.
The very last button, near the bottom, was gone.
'What the— when did it fall off?'
I'd been so groggy in the morning that I hadn't noticed.
Yu Ha-yeon's voice came out ice-cold.
"Han Si-jun... why was your button with Lee Seol-ha?"
"Huh? It probably just fell on the floor somewhere."
"And I'm asking how she knew it was yours."
"Exactly! Exactly!"
Huh...?
Yu Ha-yeon thrust the button at me, demanding answers.
I could only assume it must have fallen off when I was in Lee Seol-ha's room.
And Lee Seol-ha had chosen to hand it to me right in front of Yu Ha-yeon.
'Is this... jealousy?'
She'd acted to plant a single question in Yu Ha-yeon's mind: "Why would I have Han Si-jun's button?"
Her whole goal had been to get under Yu Ha-yeon's skin.
'That crazy...'
Jealousy.
Since she couldn't touch me herself, she'd weaponized jealousy to attack Yu Ha-yeon.
And that attack was splashing back onto me.
"N-no...! Yu Ha-yeon! This isn't what you think...!"
"Do I look like I'd believe you?"
I waved my hands frantically, denying everything.
But she seized my hand in an iron grip, fully intent on dragging me off somewhere.
'H-ha-na... Maybe Ha-na could help me?'
Clinging to that faint hope, I glanced over at Ha-na.
"S-Si-jun...! I've been caught too...! Help me...!"
"..."
Ban Ha-na was flailing her arm around, trying to pry herself free of Yu Ha-yeon's hold.
My mistake for ever trusting her.
Now that Lee Seol-ha had disappeared, Yu Ha-yeon had grabbed Ban Ha-na as my co-conspirator.
All that patience she'd been holding onto had probably finally run dry.
It was painfully clear that her pent-up restraint was going to explode today.
"Yu Ha-yeon, just calm down and listen to me. This is a misunderstanding..."
"You're misunderstanding too. I don't intend to do anything to hurt you."
Yu Ha-yeon, speaking from a trust level of zero percent.
She was paying me back for my lies with her own—mirror treatment.
'...I'm dead.'
And so, thanks to Lee Seol-ha's trolling,
I found myself hauled away by Yu Ha-yeon's hand.
***
The room cafe was pretty popular with students after school let out.
Popular with couples, too.
And popular with friends who just wanted to talk somewhere cozy.
And also extremely popular for conducting clandestine activities.
"Yu Ha-yeon, do you really have to do this?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
Yu Ha-yeon had dragged Ban Ha-na and me straight into a room cafe.
She wore an expression that said she'd resolved herself to something.
"I didn't want to do this either, you know? But the world— no, you're the one making me like this."
"..."
She wasn't wrong.
I wasn't exactly in a position to push back against her actions.
Yu Ha-yeon walked up to the counter and declared with confidence,
"Three people."
"Ah... so, should I give you a medium room, then...?"
"...!!"
Yu Ha-yeon had clearly just made a rookie mistake.
Instead of specifying the room size, she'd just stated the head count, practically announcing "I've never been here before" to everyone.
"A-anyway, yes, that'll be fine...!"
"R-right, understood."
The familiar part-timer said this and glanced at the monitor.
Then she gestured to point us the right way.
"It's over that way. Please, enjoy yourselves!"
As she spoke, her eyes met mine.
A tiny gasp escaped her.
"Oh! You're— from before, the one in the small..."
"Ha-ha..."
And just like that, she was killing me all over again.
I suspected the Womanizer's Fate was at play here.
Realizing her slip-up, the part-timer clamped a hand over her own mouth.
But what good did that do? I'd already heard her loud and clear.
Yu Ha-yeon leaned close to my ear and whispered in a frigid voice.
"...So it wasn't your first time here after all, Han Si-jun."
Yes.
It is not my first time.
If I actually said that, wouldn't I end up discovered inside this room cafe in pieces?
I swallowed my words and followed Yu Ha-yeon silently.
What in the world did Yu Ha-yeon intend to do with me and Ban Ha-na in this kind of space?
Worrying about that, I let Yu Ha-yeon's hand guide me along.
It felt exactly like being led into a slaughterhouse.